Lock nut systems are often connected to shafts and utilized to inhibit rotation of the retaining nut relative to such shafts. For example, such systems are often utilized on motor vehicles, such as axles and wheel ends. Typically, a lock nut will be engageable with a locking member or keeper which inhibits movement of the nut relative to the shaft. The locking member may include a protruding portion which extends into a slot or receiving portion of a shaft. The locking member may also engage the nut such that there is little or no movement between the nut and shaft. Such locking members are often made of stamped sheet metal.
Also, the engagement between a locking member and a shaft may have play in it such that movement is possible. Such movement may cause damage to the shaft thereby complicating or preventing removal and reattachment of the nut to the shaft. In particular, at moderate torques, such locking members may dig into the shaft (e.g., threads of the shaft) thereby damaging the shaft. For example, the locking member engagement may create a bur on the shaft. Such damage to the shaft, particularly those made of stamped sheet metal, can cause damage to the threads of the nut as the nut is removed from the shaft and/or re-engaged therewith. The digging in of such locking member to a shaft can therefore lead to stripping of the threads of the nut and/or locking member thereby making proper engagement of the threads of the shaft with the threads of the locking member and/or nut difficult or impossible or lead to failure of the retention system.
Thus, a need exists for lock nut systems which inhibit movement of shafts relative to retaining nuts and which are configured to inhibit damage to lock nut systems and the shafts engageable therewith.